It was a normal day until the pizza attacked.....post surgery update now with added picture

[Usury]

I've done some dumb things in my time, but the smartest move I ever did was to have the gallbladder removed. The pain used to make me long for death, I would literally pound my head against the wall when the attacks came. There is no comfortable position and no respite when they hit and mine used to last for hours at a time.

I was warned by the surgeon to avoid fatty foods as much as possible sine I would have less bile to break down fats, but honestly, I eat anything and everything now and have no issues.

This EXACTLY mirrors my experiences both before and after. Had it taken out a couple years ago now. Been doing keto diet with intermittent fasting since around March—lost about 60 lbs so far.

Every now and then a fatty meal will hit me and I have to go drop a deuce almost instantly….quickly followed by a second and sometimes third. Strange as it doesn’t happen all the time though (although neither did the attacks I had before the surgery). Not sure if it’s just a side effect of no GB or too little fiber or what, but overall I feel MUCH better than before the surgery. Glad I finally got it out. Mine had no stones but surgeon said there was a lot of scar tissue around it. I think a prior hernia I had screwed it up.

 

[Usury]

Consider it a warning shot over the bow. Keep an eye on it. Watch for an attack after you eat (a lot of) fatty or creamy foods. It it repeats, you'll have a good idea what the problem is. If you continue to get pains, consider seeing someone other than WebMD for a confirmation before you end up in emergency. The surgeon at ER said "this never gets better, it only gets worse". Getting it taken out in an ER situation had more risks (to you) than taking it out on a schedule.

I've read these "gallbladder flushes" noted here and elsewhere and would never consider them. But to each, their own. Case if point. I read my pathology report. If I did a flush, the procedure rather violently forces the stones out of the gall bladder. The report said the diameter of my gallbladder exit tube was 0.2 cm. My stones (several of them) were multifaceted (not round and smooth) and were 0.2 cm to 0.5 cm in diameter! Just think of the pain if one of them got stuck in the tube during the flush! Bile being forced through a tube with a plug in it. No thanks. Not for me.

Yeah I think those flushes would great….unless you got stopped up. Then you’d be really screwed!

 

[Avalon]

Well... (*snork*) This here piece of meat has had major surgeries -- as in total anesthesia with cutting -- on left foot and ankle, both knees (3X left 2X right), neck (fused 2X), throat 2x (tonsils as a kid, uvula as adult), left arm/elbow, major abdominal (with guts palpated from end to end), left shoulder 2x (dink metal removal, nice new metal 30years later, replacing entire shoulder and part of arm)...

Hellfire, I know I missed a few. Anyway, what this all leads up to is that you have a neato challenge to try:

They will put a drip in you. As soon as you feel a "coolness" in your arm, be SURE you are looking at a clock (they are ubiquitous in these places). STAY concentrated on the clock. I you are really lucky, you will see the clock dissolve Salvador Dali style:

View attachment 223394

With better than twenty tries, I hit the jackpot three fargin times. So KEWL!

Oh. And if you miss, you will wake up instantly. There will be absolutely zerio subjective passing of time. Weird.

One more "oh" -- At a pool party one afternoon, my sons got a tape measure out and began adding. I have over five feet of scars. And I walk on my metal-bolted leg without a limp.

Darn Walt, I'm inviting to my next "scar wars" party. That is where a bunch of old folks get drunk and show all their surgical scars. You might win.